It's been a while so I thought I'd write a little update on Indie. I started to do regular monthly updates but she started changing and learning so much so fast that I really couldn't keep up with the amount of milestones she was reaching! I tend to write these updates to document memories and milestones for myself so forgive me if I ramble a bit, but I want to remember all the little silly things aswell.
TALKING, VOCABULARY & UNDERSTANDING
I'll start off with her talking which has been the biggest change. If you used to read her monthly updates you would know that she was learning about 20 new words a month and she picks everything up so fast. She will now ask what something is and she loves to stand and point and name different things whilst smiling, as if she is proud of herself (and so she should be).
To give an idea of her understanding of surroundings, she will stand in the bathroom and point to the toilet and say toilet. She will then say pee or poo as she knows what the toilet is for. She will then point to the wall, radiator (she calls this 'hot ladder' as we have a towel rack radiator), sink, tap, shampoo, water, soap, brush, toothbrush, bubble, scales, towel, plug and name them all without being asked (sometimes explaining what each thing does). She loves to be praised and I always make a huge fuss and say well done as I think encouragement is vital. She can tell the difference between hot, cold and warm and will tell me which one the bath is is if I say she is allowed to touch the water. She loves the bath and will say 'wash hair shampoo' once I get her hair wet and asks for 'soap to wash'. She then will point to the plug and say 'plug out, water out please'.
She is starting to try and structure sentences together now and it's getting very good at explaining what she wants. She will ask for help if she needs it and loves to try and get people involved with something she is doing.
One of her favourite things to do is read books. She loves to sit down and point out and name everything in a book, sometimes several times over. We sit and read to her all the time but rather than listen to a story she likes us to tell her what is on the page and she will then tell us what's happening. Her understanding is improving so much and she now not only says the name of the object she sees, but will also describe it or say what it does without being prompted. I love that she seems to have a thirst for knowledge, I hope only to encourage that.
She will now say that someone is happy if they are smiling and if they are crying she will say 'oh no, crying sad'. If we are out and about and she hears a baby crying she will say 'aw crying, sad' so we are trying to teach her that babies cry when they are hungry or want something aswell, just so she gets to know that when baby Harry arrives, he's not crying because he's sad all the time.
If you ask her her name she will now say Indie, and she often greets people by saying 'hello, how are you' and loves to ask people if they are ok and make conversation. Her new favourite thing to do is to tell us she is happy which is adorable.
MILESTONES
She has recently been asking for 'nappy off wee' so we have bought her her first potty which she happily sits on naked for ages. We have yet to have any successful potty attempts (also no accidents though) but she will say 'pottys for pee' or 'poo on potty' and is willing, but she just hasn't needed to go at the right time yet. I hadn't planned on potty training her until she turnt 2 but as she has started asking we have started to follow her lead. If she asks for her nappy off during the day I let her go and sit on her potty and she will happily get on and off for about an hour. If she doesn't ask during the day then we just let her have an hour nappy free before her bath and bedtime so she is getting used to it being a regular thing. Like I said, I hadn't intended on potty training her yet so it's certainly not something I'm pushing.
Sat on her potty after putting baby on her potty too. Blurred for obvious reasons...
Another thing I am so proud of Indie for doing lately is walking everywhere. We haven't actually used her pram for over two months now as she will always ask to walk instead. She will hold our hands happily if we are near a road or cars, and does tend to listen if we tell her to walk a certain way. Supermarkets are probably the hardest 'outing' as she does like to try and wonder off and explore but we are tackling that by trying to encourage her to hold or 'help push' the trolley or put certain things in the basket for us so she doesn't get too bored. For a little toddler who isn't 2 years old yet, she is doing incredibly well.
Recently she has learnt most of her colours and can tell you what the colour of something is. She can also count form 1-10 without help and we're working on her ABC.
EATING
Eating wise, Indie is brilliant. She loves breakfast and her favourites at the moment are Ready Break, Weetabix or Marmite on toast. She will eat a really good size portion and then usually asks for a bowl of chopped banana or an orange afterwards which I let her take into the front room to eat whilst playing.
She still eats really well at lunch and dinner times and her favourite meals are tomato pasta, noodles and vegetables, pizza, steak pies and chips. She will eat absolutely anything apart from steamed vegetables, though does love them roasted.
She still only drinks water during the day, though on the weekends she will have a little milkshake or some pure orange juice as a treat with her breakfast. Whilst we have been visiting other peoples houses she has been offered juices and fizzy drinks and I have always let her have a sip but lucky enough for us (and for her teeth) she doesn't like any of it and pulls a funny face. She does eat alot of fruit which is obviously quite high in natural sugars so I do make sure to brush her teeth regularly.
Sharing a chocolate fudge brownie milkshake...
She still has a bottle of milk before bed which is something that she always asks for and it really settles her so is something we're happy to continue for now.
NAPS, ROUTINE & BEDTIME
Indie wakes up at 6am every morning when hubbys alarm goes off for work and usually comes in to my bed for a cuddle whilst hubby is getting ready. At about 6.30-7 she will ask for breakfast so we will get up and have breakfast together. After that I tend to keep her pretty busy in the mornings with long walks with the dog, Playdoh or drawing etc and I like to spend as much time with her as possible. She will usually play independently for long enough for me to have a bath and get ready in between and she loves to follow me around if I do housework and use her mini sweeping brush and mop to pretend she's helping.
Indie still has one nap a day just after her dinner at half past 12 and will sleep for 2-3 hours. We have tried to skip this nap on occasions but it's really clear that she still needs it and gets very grouchy without it. This is the time that I tend to sit down and relax. I don't really watch the tele unless hubby is home so I like to just sit down and read a book or check my social media.
When she wakes up we usually play all afternoon until I have to get up and prepare tea. Hubby arrives home at 5 and we sit and eat tea together as a family. Indie is always so happy to see Kieran when he gets home and after tea whilst I'm washing up etc they tend to have their time together where they just sit and play and then when I'm done I join them.
Indie's bedtime routine is usually a bath every other night and then milk before bed. We tend to follow her cue at bedtime and know she has had enough when she starts asking for cuddles and her Elephant (always between 6-7). When we say it's bedtime she will happily get up and walk to her room, ask for a dummy (which is only given at bedtimes) and jump into bed herself. We obviously like to tuck her in and say goodnight properly aswell but we always praise her for getting into bed on her own and call her a big girl for doing it.
She will then sleep through until hubby's alarm goes off the next morning. On some occasions the neighbours do wake her up with their noise, but she usually just calls us and we tuck her back into bed and she goes back to sleep instantly. We are very lucky in that sense.
More recently Indie has been getting more aware of my ever growing bump. She often pulls up my top and says 'Aw baby Harry' and will ask to kiss my belly. If we point to the babys room and ask her who's room it is she will say Baby Harry and now and again when she sees a scan photo she will say 'baby Harry' and point to my belly. I am so excited for her to become a big sister, I think she will be great. I'm expecting her to be a little confused at first and like all children I think it will take her a while to get used to the fact that the new baby will be a permanent addition but I think she is very understanding and accommodating for her age so I really cannot wait.
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